Leveson Inquiry: profiles of Lord Justice Leveson and his assessors

Lord Justice Leveson releases his report into the culture, practice and ethics
of the press on Thursday. Here we profile the individuals who helped shape
the report: the judge and his panel of six assessors, who were chosen for
their expertise and "complete independence from any interested parties".

Lord Justice Leveson has been assisted by a panel of assessorsPhoto: PA

Lord Justice Leveson Lord Justice Leveson, 63, was appointed in July 2011 to chair the inquiry, which he regards as his complex answer to "one simple question: who guards the guardians?"

He was born in Liverpool and educated at Oxford University before being called to the bar in 1970, beginning a career as a criminal barrister. He became a High Court judge in 2000 and a Lord Justice of Appeal in 2006. He is chairman of the Sentencing Council and a member of the Court of Appeal.

He has previously led the prosecution case against Rose West, the serial killer who was jailed in 1995 for the murder of ten women and girls. He also prosecuted Ken Dodd, the comedian, over his tax affairs. Dodd was cleared.

The judge will not take questions after reading out a statement when he releases his report on Thursday but will appear at an Australian conference on media regulation in December.

Sir David Bell Sir David Bell is a non-executive director of the Economist and was previously director of Pearson, the publishing group, and chairman of the Financial Times.

Shami Chakrabarti Shami Chakrabarti has been Director of Liberty, a civil liberties campaign group, since September 2003.

She was called to the bar in 1994 and worked as a Home Office lawyer for five years. She is also chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and a governor of the British Film Institute.

Lord Currie of Marylebone David Currie was chairman of Ofcom, which regulates British television networks, for seven years, before stepping down in 2009. But despite this background, he made clear in his declaration to the inquiry that he does not necessarily favour statutory regulation. "I believe that self-regulation, with good governance in place, can be superior," he wrote.

He has published academic research on government regulation of industry and is a board member of the Royal Mail and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. More exotically, he holds a board post at the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

Elinor Goodman Elinor Goodman was political editor of Channel 4 News for more than 20 years, and previously worked for the Financial Times. She is a trustee of the Thomson Foundation, which helps to encourage journalism in the developing world. She once played tennis on holiday with David Cameron.

George Jones George Jones spent 47 years as a journalist and is a previous Political Editor of The Daily Telegraph. He retired from Westminster shortly after the 2010 general election.

Sir Paul Scott-Lee Sir Paul Scott-Lee was Chief Constable of West Midlands Police from 2002 until 2009, and was previously Chief Constable of Suffolk Police. He is a previous Vice Chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers.